Description and History

NPL Listing History

NPL Status: Deleted

Proposed Date: 10/30/82

Final Date: 09/08/83

Deleted Date: 03/07/86

The Taputimu Farm is owned by the Government of American Samoa and was the Territory's primary repository of unused and outdated agricultural chemicals and pesticides. The farm consists of a three-room farm warehouse and a trailer. The pesticide materials were stored on a concrete or steel floor of the storage areas and trailer. Ten drums and leaking and deteriorating containers were found improperly stored within the facility buildings. The facility is located approximately 1/4 mile from a public beach. Approximately 3,000 people depend on groundwater within a three mile radius of the site for domestic purposes.

Contaminants and Risks

Contaminated Media

Soil and Sludges

The interior floor areas of the warehouse and trailer were contaminated with pesticides. Soil sampling for primary pollutants and visual examination of the site confirmed that contamination was confined to the interior floor areas of the warehouse and trailer. Direct contact with contaminants while in the warehouse or trailer was a threat to human health.

Who is Involved

Investigation and Cleanup Activities

Cleanup Ongoing

Entire Site: Based on the results of the site investigation in 1984, the EPA performed the following activities: sealed the warehouse opening to restrict access to the site by trespassers; repacked the pesticides and shipped them to Long Beach, California for disposal at a Federally-approved disposal facility; washed down all the exposed surfaces of the storage areas with bleach to ensure deactivation of residual materials not picked up by sweeping and vacuuming; applied two layers of epoxy paint to the interior walls and poured concrete over the existing floor; and banned all food storage in the building and placed warning signs on the building prohibiting food storage as an additional precautionary measure.

Cleanup Complete

Deletion from the National Priorities List. The EPA, with the agreement of the Government of American Samoa, deleted the site from the NPL on March 7, 1986, after determining that all the appropriate responses had been completed and no further cleanup was necessary under CERCLA.

To review the Administrative Record file for the Taputimu Farm site, please feel free to call the Superfund Records Center at (415) 820-4700. The Administrative Record is EPA's official collection of data, reports and other information that the EPA considered or relied on in making its decision on the selection of a removal or remedial action for cleaning up the site.